Land/property survey Q (house, buying, camper)

[WhichisWhich?]

I am interested in a property in the Upstate, but the seller has no survey of her land, only a very old unmeasured plat from an old county map. I walked it, and know it isnt' what she is advertising!

My Q is why on earth does a potential buyer have to be forced to pay for a survey, and if the results are less, the contract is void and you are stuck with a useless survey!

The seller refuses to compensate or concession in any way. Wouldn't a seller be held liable for misrepresenting the truth?

[ruvidu]

Check the county GIS where the propety is located. While the GIS is not a substitute for a survey it will show a reasonable layout of the property and provide you with enough information to decide on a survey or not.

[WhichisWhich?]

Thanks, I tried an online measuring tool over the acreage, and it came out at best (over measuring) 8 acres, on target: 7.25. Not 9. So I haven't pursued it any further....

[Eldemila]

The house we purchased recently was listed to have .82 acre. I wanted a survey due to the fact that originally, the owner that had the house built had it on 1.43 acre. I knew it wasn't right because the other lot that they sold off and built a home on was listed as having .66 acre. Didn't add up, obviously, but that's what was on the public/county records and that's what the listing agent went by.

I had a survey done and was only going to have the measurements unless something unusual came up, then I would do the full survey, pictures and all. It was, of course, a .77 lot - the difference in size would be enough to fit a nice size house on. Owners wouldn't go down in price, said "It is what it is." But I have to say, I was happy to do the survey. I found out that my driveway is 1" away from my neighbors lot. The lot is a very odd shape, so having this done was definitely helpful in knowing my "boundries."

I chalk this up to the cost of buying a property. The house we eventually purchased was the 3rd house we put a contract on. On all three properties I paid to have a home inspection and a termite inspection done, along with a chimney inspection. The two we didn't go through with due to problems found, the money I paid out, was to me, good money since if I hadn't done so, I would have been one unhappy camper in the long run.

Don't be cheap on things like this, in the long run, it's worth it. When making such a large purchase sometimes you have to put out some money - you'll get it back in the long run, over time.